Willimantic woman charged with DUI with kids in van

A Willimantic woman was charged with driving under the influence Monday after being found slumped over the wheel of her van with her two children, ages 6 and 5, asleep in the vehicle, city police said.

A Willimantic woman was charged with driving under the influence Monday after being found slumped over the wheel of her van with her two children, ages 6 and 5, asleep in the vehicle, city police said.

Veronica Cruz, 31, of 233 Jackson St., was arrested after police approached her van in the drivway of a Jackson Street home around 2 a.m. Monday. The van’s motor was running and Cruz’s two children were sleeping in the back seat. Police said they spotted the van about 30 minutes earlier and deemed the vehicle suspicious because its lights were on and its motor was running.

Upon finding Cruz officers attempted to wake her but it took several minutes to do so, Willimantic police said in a press release. Eventually she was awakened and charged after participating in several field sobriety tests, police said.

Cruz was also charged with two counts of risk of injury to a minor, police said. She was released on $2,000 bond and scheduled to appear in Danielson Superior Court on Feb. 14.